In-vehicle safety technologies - picking future winners! Michael Paine 1 , David Healy 2 , Jonathon Passmore 2 , Jessica Truong 2 , Ian Faulks 3 1 Vehicle Design and Research Pty Ltd 2 TAC 3 Safety and Policy Analysis International Abstract In recent years, there has been an explosion of new technologies for incorporation within vehicles that are currently on the market or under development by suppliers to the automotive industry. A number of these technologies are aimed at improving safety either by reducing the risk of a crash occurring or by improving the protection offered by a vehicle in the event of a crash. But which technologies are worth backing? Which provide a strong business case to government and to the industry itself for active development, incorporation and marketing to the Australian consumer? This paper describes an analysis conducted on behalf of the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) in which a range of current and emerging in-vehicle safety technologies are assessed in accordance with a set of criteria including safety impact, cost, level of community acceptability, need for legislative or infrastructure support and the model for market penetration. Key technologies will be highlighted that score highly across these criteria as a basis for agreeing a core of technologies for subsequent support and promotion Introduction There is a wide range of safety features and products available for motor vehicles that can assist in avoiding crashes or making them less severe. The most promising recent developments have been with Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technology. Intelligent Transport System (ITS) technologies are now recognised and accepted as offering the potential to effect radical improvements in the safety and efficiency of operation of road transport networks. Safety-related ITS technologies typically involve engineering systems built into the vehicle and/or the road that intervene when users suffer lapses of concentration, make unsafe decisions, or fail to detect a developing unsafe situation. There would be benefits in Australia and New Zealand arising from making some of these ITS safety features more widely available (that is, encouraging vehicle manufacturers to make them available as standard or optional equipment) and encouraging vehicle purchasers to buy vehicles with these features. A comprehensive range of Intelligent Vehicle Technologies (IVT) has been evaluated in a project commissioned by the Transport Accident Commission of Victoria (TAC). The TAC was interested in assessing the key existing and emerging IVT systems in accordance with a range of specified criteria. These criteria were developed by the TAC to help guide priority setting in supporting a subset of these technologies while accounting for both road safety impact and practical aspects of implementation. This methodology takes into account road safety benefits, readiness of the technology, regulatory and infrastructure requirements, costs, user acceptance and the potential influence of government initiatives on the uptake rate. By choosing these criteria, the methodology lends itself to better assessing the relative merits of the technologies in accordance with factors that help build the business case for several of the most promising technologies related to driver compliance issues (i.e., may be regarded as "enforcement" related technologies). The European Transport Safety Council (2005) points out such technologies are unlikely to succeed through market forces alone - a co-ordinated, co-operative approach involving industry, government, and advocates within the community, is appropriate. IVT in road safety strategies Makeham (1997, in Faulks 2002) recognised that there were many emerging ITS technologies with the potential for significant safety impacts, asking the question: "How much could new technology improve safety?" Perhaps, he said, we may get closer to the right answer by re-phrasing the question: "How much could be gained by drastically reducing the role of human errors and foibles in the causal chain of road crashes?" Of course, many, if not most, of the IVT are effective even if human error occurs. That is, the technologies are operative even if the driver is alcohol or drug impaired, fatigued, medically impaired or disabled, inexperienced, or otherwise functioning at less than optimal performance. Makeham also suggested that an issue in the viability of ITS could be the psychological price experienced by road users (and particularly drivers) that could be at This paper has not been peer-reviewed November 2008, Adelaide, South Australia 2008 Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference 378